Background

Founded by Ou Virak in late 2015, Future Forum (FF) is an independent think tank that focuses on nurturing new thinkers and researchers, connecting them in a supportive community, and partnering with them and others to identify and advance policy solutions to mould a better future for Cambodia. FF represents a dynamic response to addressing capacity gaps in policy making in Cambodia.

  • Vision: A just, democratic, dynamic, and prosperous Cambodia shaped by the needs of its people.
  • Mission: To achieve our vision, we nurture a new generation of thinkers, connect them in a supportive policy community, and partner with them and others to identify and advance evidence-based policy solutions to mould a better future for Cambodia.
  • Values: To guide our work and decisions, we have five core values (CRISP): Creative, Rights-based, Inclusive, Supportive, and Positive.
  • Goal: Better evidence-based policies are being developed by new thinkers and are adopted and implemented in the long term, with policy outcomes that are more relevant and responsive to the needs of the Cambodian people.

Future Forum’s Strategies

1. FF focuses on nurturing a new generation of thinkers and researchers through our learning and change programs.

● Young Researchers Program (YRP) is an intensive, one-year policy research training and coaching program designed to empower Cambodian youth to become competent in policy research and analysis such that they can influence and contribute to shaping public policy discourse by serving in government, civil society, tertiary education, research institutions, or through other means. YRP is structured into two parts: a six-month training on basic research and policy understanding and a six-month fellowship for policy development and publishing policy papers. Each year Future Forum recruits two cohorts: Cohort 1 starts in January and Cohort 2 starts in July. Up to 25 young research fellows (YRFs) per cohort are accepted into the program through a highly competitive, nationwide selection process. Participants are selected from diverse backgrounds, including but not limited to young professionals, university graduates, and marginalized groups (women, people with disability, LGBT+, indigenous people, minorities, and those who belong to under-represented communities).

● FF also organizes bespoke training in coordination with institutional partners to support new thinking and executive program for established research and policy professionals and leaders.

2. FF builds a community of policy analysts and advocates and provides a crucial space for collaboration and the exchange and incubation of ideas through providing a physical co-learning/working space, facilitating networking and learning events, and serving as a communications platform.

● The Hub: is the physical co-working space for the community of researchers to undertake their research, network, and collaborate. It is designed as an incubator and accelerator of policy solutions. The key components of The Hub include a library, database, and co-working/co-learning space.

3. FF partners and collaborates with our alumni and others to support research, the development of policy solutions, and strategies to advocate for new ideas and engender debate.

● Policy Forums: FF holds four key policy forums:

1. Governance Forum: Peace, public administration, aid funding, civil-society, media, politics and foresight, civic education, and citizenship
2. Living Forum: Environment, climate change, energy, urbanisation, accessibility, community design, housing, and transport infrastructure
3. People Forum: Migration, identity, population, gender, empowerment, arts, and culture
4. Development Forum: Human development, health, food security, education, and the economy

●  Publications: bring together the ideas of the young researchers we are nurturing, those we are connecting in the policy community, and those we are partnering with on research, through the Journal of Future Cambodia and Big Book of Small Ideas.

Partnership with Ponlok Chomnes

The partnership with Ponlok Chomnes centers on nurturing a new generation of thinkers in research and public policy spaces through FF’s flagship Young Researchers Program to develop and advocate for positive policy solutions that ultimately see policy outcomes that are more relevant and responsive to the needs of Cambodian people. Concurrently, FF will channel the fund to improve its organizational development as well.

PUBLICATIONS BY FUTURE FORUM UNDER PONLOK CHOMNES PHASE II

  1. Op-Ed: Why Phnom Penh’s City Bus Struggles to Gain Ridership, published on 15 January 2024
  2. Balancing Public Trust and Cybersecurity, published on 16 March 2024
  3. Op-Ed: Indigenous Communities Lose Land at Perilous Rate Due to Predatory Loan Industry, published on 27 March 2024
  4. Op-Ed: Reassessing Household Dynamics and National Policies for Gender Equality, published on 9 July 2024
  5. Encouraging Teachers to Incorporate Smartphones in Lessons, published on 8 August 2024
  6. Role of Corporations in Reducing Plastic Pollution, published on 21 August 2024
  7. Positioning Pagodas as Educational Spaces, published on 5 September 2024
  8. Investing in TVET Reform: Cambodia Needs to Keep Green Jobs and Green Economy in Mind, published on 7 September 2024
  9. Making Our City More Walkable and Safe for Students, published on 13 September 2024
  10. Op-Ed: Enhancing Agricultural Services Would Help Farmers Curb Excessive Use of Chemical Fertilizers, published on 19 September 2024
  11. Getting to Know the Issue of Mobility Poverty in Phnom Penh, published on 19 October 2024
  12. Riding the Phnom Penh City Bus: Farewell to Fares?, published on 20 October 2024
  13. Op-Ed: Phnom Penh Needs a Long-term, Grassroots Strategy to Transform Sidewalks, published on 21 October 2024
  14. Preparing for Responsible and Ethical Artificial Intelligence Adoption, published on 30 October 2024
  15. Incorporating Internship Programmes for Secondary Students, published on 30 October 2024
  16. Cambodia’s Digital Tightrope: Can Tech Propel Progress or Cause Chaos?, published on 19 November 2024
  17. Moving Beyond Protectionism Approach: Why Gender-neutral Parental Leave Policy is Important to Achieve Substantive Equality, published on 2 December 2024
  18. Op-Ed: Why Gender-Affirming Care Is Important for Cambodia’s Transgender Community, published on 27 December 2024
  19. Op-Ed: What Cambodia’s Economic Land Concessions Should Look Like, published on 30 December 2024
  20. Alleyways as Social Inclusion Tools for Elderly Residents of Phnom Penh, published on 3 January 2025

PUBLICATIONS BY FUTURE FORUM UNDER PONLOK CHOMNES PHASE I

  1. How Some Cambodian Women Contribute to Patriarchy, published in 2020
  2. ‘Tough Guy’ male sterotypes don’t just harm women, published in 2020
  3. Cambodia’s Agricultural Sector is in dire need of revitalization, published in 2020
  4. Is the Agro-Processing Industry Significant in the Context of Cambodia?, published in 2020
  5. Along Delay in reopening school will have long-term negative impacts on Cambodia, published in 2020
  6. Mainland Southeast Asia: a Strategic Position for China’s Sea Power Projection, published in 2020
  7. Actions needed now to reduce Phnom Penh’s flood, published in 2020
  8. Covid-19 exposes the great inequality in Cambodian water access, published in 2020
  9. Cambodian healthcare will be overwhelmed by outbreak, published in 2020
  10. Pandemic: security, social safety, work and industry, published in 2020
  11. The hidden plight of Phnom Penh’s urban poor during flood, published in 2020
  12. Wading in ignorance: Phnom Penh’s flood, published in 2020
  13. Power to the people? Cambodia’s Lower Sesan II dam, two years on, published in 2020
  14. Society’s Slow-Changing Views Sow Discord as Husbands’ Roles Shift, published in 2021
  15. Digital Citizenship: Covid-19 Calls for Media Literacy in Cambodia, published in 2021
  16. Pandemic offers chance to consider higher taxes, not donations, from rich, published in 2021
  17. Will Cambodia commit to protecting its forests? published in 2021
  18. Phnom Penh must learn from previous failed mass transit project attempts, published in 2021
  19. A Discussion on Adequate and Affordable Housing in Phnom Penh, published in 2021
  20. Convincing Phnom Penh developers they should care about parks, published in 2021
  21. A Discussion on the Role of Buddhism in Contemporary Cambodian Gender Roles, published in 2021
  22. The Cambodian Labour Market and Skills Gap, published in 2021
  23. Energy Drinks Are Marketed as Healthy. This Puts Cambodians’ Health at Risk, published in 2021
  24. Doubling down on tourism today will constrain Cambodia’s policy options tomorrow, published in 2021
  25. Lockdown’s food security crisis must address demand and supply, published in 2021
  26. Covid-19 Pandemic Supports Case for Decriminalizing Sex Work, published in 2021
  27. Would access to Cambodia’s Ream naval base really benefit China? published in 2021
  28. Cambodian Participation in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations, Soft Power Development, published in 2021
  29. The Current State of Cambodia’s STEM Education: A Case Study of the Preah Sisowath New Generation School, published in 2021
  30. How Cambodia’s agricultural lending can get a bigger bang for its buck, published in 2021
  31. Exploring the Feasibility of Universal Health Coverage in Cambodia: Lessons Learned from Rwanda and Thailand, published in 2021
  32. More Than Friends? A Content Analysis of Cambodia’s Position towards China’s Core Interests, published in 2021
  33. Functional Assignments and Public Accountability, published in 2021
  34. The Cambodian Debt Trap in Cambodia, published in February 2022

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